FOOD

As Ryan mentioned in a previous blog, I tend to be a bit more personal and specific in my blog contributions than he is. This could be no better illustrated as true than in todays blog. Because there isnt much more that I take more personally than the subject matter that I want to discuss today - and yes that is food. If you are a friend, family or God, please know that you are indeed higher on my list but that is about it. So let me just ramble on a bit about my food experiences of the past week.

London - I dont have a lot to say about the airplane food or about the food in London. Except to say that the fish and chips were as good as ever, although our restaurant at one point was out of ketchup and tarter sauce and salt and pepper which was a little sad for me. Oh and I did have plenty of tea and shortbread cookies which I believe both of these are some of the best of Britains accomplishments.

Once in Israel though my food experiences have gotten much more interesting - starting perhaps with the McKabob that Ryan got at a restaurant that I will not name (I dont like to give free advertising). The McKabob was very good, did not come with cheese, and also cost us about 9 US dollars. Yes, that is correct.

Once we got to Jerusalem, we walked over to a corner market and tried to go shopping for a few staples to get us through a couple meals. The experience was incredibly overwhelming for two main reasons. One, I had no idea what I was looking at most of the time and two, the prices were 2-4 times the prices we have at home. I did find a box of rice cereal that baby Benja will be needing in another two months. It cost 10 US dollars for the box so I dont really know if Ben will be starting solids while out of the US. I dont expect to see English on anything and am looking forward to being immersed in the culture here. However, right now I know nothing about Hebrew and when everything is written in it things are a bit difficult. I tried smelling and squishing things as best as I could and ended up with a few things - we bought bread (not sure if it was wheat or rye), some milk (either cows or sheeps or something else), some lunch meat (chicken?) and an apple (this I did recognize and it cost me a dollar). I really do love food and cooking and so to be so out of sorts was a bit depressing. So today we went to a larger and cheaper supermarket a little farther away, and I hoped that things would turn out a bit better.

We parked our rental car and went into the market. It was bigger and cheaper and had more things that I could recognize like toilet paper and shampoo. I did not know if I was getting shampoo for colored hair, dry hair, or whatever, but I think it was shampoo and not conditioner. I did get what I thought was a jumbo thing of clothes detergent only to realise at home that it was fabric softener. I couldnt tell which was salted and unsalted butter so I got both. We got what we thought was canteloupe and it was something greener and sweeter once we cut it open. Again everything is in Hebrew and a lot of the foods just look so different that we have no idea what we are getting. Food that was plentiful was hummos, pita, and lots of containers of salads. I have so much more empathy now for people in the US who have immigrated or who are visiting and dont know a lick of English - because I certainly am at a loss in the market for now! One thing that was all too familiar occurred at the end of the shopping trip. Ben needed to eat (he is feeling left out of the cultural experience) so I took him and the keys to the rental up to the parking garage to feed him. I walked up and down every aisle pushing the unlock button, hoping to hear a beep or a door unlocking. I looked in the back seat of every big car I saw hoping to find a car seat and even tried the key in one. Finally I gave up and sat on the concrete outside the store and waited for the one in our marriage who has a shred of a sense of direction. At the very least, it was comforting to know that even in Israel some things remain the same. Stay tuned for our efforts at keeping a kosher kitchen. :)